What are tuatara?

Tuatara means "spiny back" in Maori. Tuataras are reptiles but they are very different to lizards, crocodiles and amphibians (frogs, salamanders). Tuatara have a primitive body structure that supports the theory that they are one of the oldest and most un-evolved species, having hardly changed in the past 220 million years.
Tuatara have a scaly loose skin which is soft to the touch. They have a variable body temperature which enables them to survive in cold climates. They live in burrows and are nocturnal, hunting at night just outside their burrow entrance. They feed on wetas, worms, lizards, millipedes and small seabirds.

An adult can grow up to 24cm in length and weigh about 500 grams. Tuatara breed only every two to four years. Tuatara lay about a dozen leathery shelled eggs between October and December. The eggs are burrowed and then abandoned. After about 12-15 months the eggs hatch, the young using an egg tooth to break out of their shells. From the start, baby tuatara take care of themselves, but are very vulnerable to predation. They mature at about 13 years old and may live to be 60 years old.

Species of tuatara

There are two species of tuatara. The most common species is Sphenodon punctatus, the tuatara which is found on the Northern Islands. It is thought that the Cook Strait Islands tuatara is a subspecies of the Northern tuatara. S.punctatus has a brown-white appearance. The second species is the Brothers tuatara Sphenodon guntheri which is unique to Brothers Island and has an olive skin with yellow spots.

The above Photograph is by John Wattie.
Tuataras do not live in lovely forest like this any more.The Maori rat (Kiore) made it impossible to live on the mainland. This whole picture is a cheat - a captive Tuatara melded with a misty, Whirinaki Forest background. Nature photographers are not supposed to do that - unless they are honest and let you know it happened. So, this is how Tuatara would have looked, before humans messed the mainland environment up.